Dark Legacy
by Myst Dragon
Summary: All Caitlin Tallus has known since she was a baby was a life in hiding, being trained in the Jedi arts by a survivor of the Jedi Purge. With his murder she leaves her home with a desire that conflicts with her training. Inspired by KotOR and JK games.
1. Chapter 1

Star Wars:  
**Dark Legacy**

By: _Myst Dragon_

**Chapter 1**

In what was once a storage room, two people sparred. One was an old man, in his fifties, wearing tan robes and pants. The other was a young girl dressed in a similar outfit colored in light charcoal gray. The girl tried to strike the old man high with one of the two sword-length sticks she held but he ducked low and tripped her with his staff. The hard landing winding her, she lost her grip on her sticks. The old man leaned down holding a hand out. "Caitlin, you have to learn to be more patient. If these were lightsabers, you'd have lost a leg." He told her with a sigh, his concern showing plainly on his face.

"I hardly see how my dueling skills matter, since I'll probably spend my whole life in hiding. I thought Jedi were supposed to fight Sith, not hide while two of them rule the galaxy!" Her complaint was one the old man was getting used to hearing from her in recent years.

"My time has passed, and yours has yet to come. You have to remember patience. The galaxy is alive with the force as all things and its balance will shift. We must always trust in the Force to know when it is our time to act." He placed a hand on her shoulder and brushed back a bit of her chestnut colored hair, which fell to her shoulders. "The alliance has made great progress, and they even have a Jedi among them now, and…" The old man paused as he sensed a faint disturbance in the Force that tried to keep itself hidden. "I need you to go to the cave and collect the box hidden there."

"But why, Master Van?" She asked confused.

"Just do it!" He snapped at her, shocking the teenaged girl. After a moment she turned around and left without a word. Master Van took a deep breath as he leaned his staff against a wall and opened a small case containing his lightsaber. Its metallic length was roughly twice that of a standard saber. With it in hand, he sat down in the middle of the room and meditated. Soon after, the doors to the room opened and a tall, wiry man with spiked blonde hair entered. He dressed like a member of a swoop bike gang. "So, you've finally found me. How is Raven?" There was a twinge of regret as he asked about the woman he'd met before the Jedi purge, instigated by Palpatine.

"Lord Zerak finally took her place as the Master, and when I bring him the key to finding the library, I'll be his apprentice and eventually do the same to him." The man grinned maliciously self-assured of his destiny.

"Quiyllo, you deluded fool. You were among the fortunate children not to be on Corascant, Why take this path?" The old man asked in an almost pleading manner.

"Being hunted by half the Galaxy has shown us the power of the Dark Side. With the Emperor dead, we no longer need to bide our time. With the knowledge you hid in the library so long ago, we will have more than enough power to take control of the Empire!" Quiyllo clenched his fist to emphasize his last statement.

"The Dark Side is a thing of pain and destruction only. If you willingly submit yourself to such a destiny, then killing you now would be too great a mercy." What started as a plea, became cold as Master Van realized it fell on deaf ears. "You know I will never give you that information. You'd be better off searching on your own, but it should be obvious that there is no clue to the library here."

"Then let's get this over with." Quiyllo pulled his double lightsaber from his belt and ignited both ends with their crimson blades.

"As you wish." The old man followed suit with his own golden bladed, double lightsaber. Quiyllo immediately started with a horizontal slash to the old man's throat, but the old Jedi blocked and struck at the younger man's legs. The younger man jumped to avoid the attack and sent one of his blades down at the old man's head! Master Van sidestepped and the rapid cycle of slashes continued. Quiyllo's attacks gradually became more aggressive as the fight continued. Master Van's body started to complain about the pace, but the aged Jedi eventually found a crucial opening. As he sidestepped another downward slash, he quickly brought his own saber down cutting Quiyllo's in half! Without losing a beat, he followed through by using the Force to shove his opponent against a wall. The hard impact winded the Sith and he dropped the two pieces of his saber. Before he could fully recover, Master Van used the Force to send the two halves down a drain leading down into the cavern below his home. Quiyllo reached out with the Force and sent two crates flying at the old Jedi! Master Van managed to divert one but the other caught his hands, making him drop his lightsaber. The blades vanished as the weapon hit the floor. The blonde man quickly drew the weapon to his hands and reactivated it.

"Can you hear that old man? It sounds like the Force is calling for you." Quiyllo taunted as he charged the old man. Master Van simply stood there, allowing his hands to fall as the blade of his own saber struck him. As it made contact he vanished becoming one with the Force. "Stupid old man." The young Sith began tearing rooms apart searching for the clue that would lead him to the lost library.

Down in the Caverns, Caitlin made her way back with a small metal box. She was a little annoyed by how deep in the caverns the box was left, but understood that it had to be important. She reached a door that blocked off the portion of the cave she was in, but it refused to acknowledge her code. She tried to open it repeatedly before finally giving up, wishing she'd brought a comm. "He should come looking for me eventually. I'll just wait right here." Shortly after she sat down something fell on top of her head. She looked down to see two halves of a double lightsaber, and she became frightened. She examined them, but neither half seemed to function. She started trying to use the Force to open the door, but in her panic her attempts were ineffective. After more than an hour of trying to force the door open, her breathing had become heavy and as she was about to collapse, the door unlocked and opened. She took a deep, determined breath and dashed out of the cave to try to help the old man who'd been like a father to her since she was an infant!

As she ran into the house, she saw items thrown everywhere, but she couldn't sense her master anywhere. As she entered the storage room where she'd last seen her master, she immediately noticed the mess, and the old man's robes piled on the floor. She also saw the stray marks left from the lightsaber battle and she knew what happened to him. "It can't be." She collapsed, struggling with the harsh realization. "He can't be dead." Her tears came, uncontrollably and she was stuck there for hours in her torment.

When she was finally able to drag herself out of the room, she righted a chair and set the box down on the dining table. The teenaged girl was still shaking with grief. She opened the box to find a datapad with a message set for playback. She activated it and a message recorded by Master Van started playing back immediately. "If you are hearing this recording then I am most likely no longer with you and for that I am sorry. This datapad contains instructions to find the key to locating a vast library of both Sith and Jedi knowledge. The council instructed me to hide the library of holocrons, and if I am indeed dead, then you must ensure that no Sith find it. I am entrusting this task to you. I only hope that when you receive this message, you are ready." For the next few hours she carefully studied the datapad. When she was finished she stood up with a deep sigh and walked to the security monitor. She played back the recording of the storage room during the time she was out, and viewed a holographic playback of the fight. When the playback was complete, her lost expression was replaced by a fierce determination, and she marched to the workshop with the wrecked double lightsaber.

The young woman spent the next few days taking apart the saber, salvaging most of the key components, including two red crystals, and with the salvaged components, she fashioned her own pair of twin lightsabers. There was an artistic sense to their contoured design, as a piece of black metal was wrapped around half of their silver Metallic shells. Once she was satisfied with their appearance and ruggedness, she spun and juggled them to test their weight and balance. She grinned with satisfaction and held one out for its final test. She tapped the two power buttons she'd built into it in sequence, causing the energy to ignite into a crimson blade as it passed through the red crystal. She ignited the other lightsaber and gave a contented smile. "These will do nicely for bringing justice to that murderer." For a moment her expression sank and she deactivated the lightsabers. "I shouldn't delude myself. This isn't justice I want, but I can't just let it go."

The next morning, she stepped out of the fresher and dressed in her primarily charcoal colored outfit. Her pants were fitted with just enough room to move around, and she took care as she wrapped her dual layered robe top around her abdomen, securing it with a dark tan belt. She tucked her pants into her dark brown boots, and put bracers that she'd rigged to hold her lightsabers on between the two sleeve layers, in order to hide them under the flared outer sleeve. She filled a bag with a spare outfit and a few small personal items, because for the moment she felt it was better for her to travel light. As she left, she wondered if she would ever return, and for a moment she saw her old master sitting at the dining table drinking his special tea.

Soon after she arrived in the nearby farming settlement of Tanaak, she sold her master's swoop bike for a fair amount of credits. The amount wasn't as much as she thought it was worth, but she wasn't going to argue over the price with so many stormtroopers around the settlement which doubled as a starport. She never felt too comfortable around the men dressed in white armor, and she sometimes wondered if they really were men under those masked helmets. She wasted no time heading to a Cantina that she'd heard most of the least reputable spacers go while their ships are being loaded, unloaded, or going through special repairs.

She walked into the cantina and looked around. The music was soft and mellow, and there were many people in talking over drinks. Some were even playing a few of the popular card games. Given the conditions which she'd grown up in, she'd rarely had the chance to see so many alien races in person, but she didn't have much time to look around before she noticed a commotion in a part of the bar. There was a man wearing a tan jacket, black pants, and a blaster on his right side. He seemed quite upset as he yelled at another man sitting at the table, surrounded by four guards. The man at the table sneered and said something, Caitlin couldn't hear, not that she could understand the other man's yelling. The man in the jacket eventually got frustrated and went to the bar. She decided to trust her feelings, and as she approached the man, she came to appreciate his short black hair. "Excuse me, but what was that about?" She asked.

"Just business with a slime that thinks he's a Hutt. You'd be better off staying out of it." He sighed and glanced at her, and then did a double-take, leaving his eyes on her. "Say, aren't you a little young to be in a dump like this?"

"I need a ship to take me somewhere, but I don't want it being too visible." She told him, trying not to sound too vague without giving too much away.

"Well good look getting offworld without starport visa." He told her flatly, with a hint of bitterness.

"What? Since when?" Her eyes widened as she heard the news.

"Have you been buried under a rock all of your life? The way I hear it; it's been like this way since the Governor decided he wanted to keep more of the locals local. Off-worlders like me are given visas as part of the docking fee." He explained the situation, feeling a little strange, since she seemed like a local. "You really didn't know?"

"No, I've lived outside of the settlement my whole life. Isn't there some way you could sneak me on your ship?" She baited him to see if her guess about his business with the other man was right.

"I can't even get to my ship without a visa, much less cargo." He shook his head as realized what he'd revealed to the young woman.

"If I get your visa back, will you take me to at least two planets?" She grinned as she proposed the bargain.

He grinned, not really taking her seriously. "Sure kid. My name's Jak Carlson, by the way. What's yours?" He held out his hand as he introduced himself.

She took his hand. "Caitlin Tallus." She trusted her feelings which told her to trust him. "When's the soonest we can leave?"

He laughed a little. Jak wasn't quite sure what to make of the young woman. "If you can get us both visas, then I'll go whenever you want."

"Then you'd better finish your drink and pay your tab, 'cause this'll just be a minute." Caitlin smiled confidently and headed off towards the table where the crime boss sat. From everything she'd heard and read, men in his position tended to be willful, but if he'd been drinking enough of what her nose had been picking up, then he should be a bit more open to persuasion. She made special note of how far each of his guards' hands were away from their blasters.

"Can I help you?" He asked the question with an expression on his face that spoke volumes about what he was thinking about doing to her. For a brief moment she was tempted to wipe the expression off, but she pushed the thought aside and mentally reminded herself of the code her master taught her.

She made a barely noticeable gesture with her hand as she reached into his mind through the Force and spoke to him. "You want to give me Captain Carlson's starport visa so he can deliver your cargo."

"I want to give you Captain Carlson's starport visa so he can deliver my cargo." He answered her in an almost trance-like voice. As he reached into his jacket to get the card, Caitlin saw another visa hanging just inside of his jacket. She smiled as he slid Jak's card across the table. She gracefully picked it up and tucked it into her outer robe as she walked close to the crime boss.

Caitlin walked her fingers across the human's chest. "Thank you. You've been more generous than you could possibly know." She reached into his mind once more with the Force, and whispered to him. "You are going to go home and forget about this encounter."

He stood up and once more spoke in a trance-like voice. "I am going to go home and forget about this encounter." As he left, his bodyguards followed; and two of them made a bet about whether or not he would make it home without passing out, with how drunk he seemed to be acting. Those two preferred to speak in Huttesse.

Jak had a stunned expression on his face as the young woman walked to him victoriously. "How in world did you pull that off?"

"I used to watch a lot of Holovids growing up." She told him, hoping that he would believe that her explanation was the sole source of her ability to obtain his visa, as she held it out to him. "Are we ready to go now?"

"I'd have too much trouble trying to sneak you onto my. Sorry kid?" He told her feeling just a little bad, because she seemed so hopeful; while he hadn't taken their earlier deal seriously. "Without a starport visa, you're stuck here until they lift the lockdown."

She smiled and held out her left hand. With a flick of her wrist, an open starport visa appeared! "Tada! Will this do?"

His jaw nearly hit the floor as he looked at the visa she held out. "How did you get that?" He barely kept himself from yelling the question!

She gave a smug grin. "You'd be surprised where a Hutt wannabe keeps some of his treasures."

"Yeah, I guess I would." Jak laughed as he regained his composure. "We should probably get out of here now. I figure I've been stuck here long enough anyway." He pulled a small cylindrical object from his belt and spoke into the comm. device. "Okay Ten, fire up the engines and get her ready to fly."


	2. Chapter 2

**Star Wars:  
Dark Legacy**

By: _Myst Dragon_

**Chapter 2**

The pair had little trouble getting past the checkpoint to the starport, and soon made their way to Jak's ship. It was one of Corellian Engineering Corp's more recent freighters, the YT-1930. Like most ships in the YT series, its primary fuselage was a saucer shape, but its cockpit was forward center, between the ship's mandibles. Also unlike most of the other YT series ships, it had two wedge shaped sections extending from the saucer. The loading ramp was located on the ship's starboard side, which is right. From the looks of it, Caitlin could tell that the ship had seen its fair share of action. She noticed a smile on Jak's face as they entered the hanger. "Ah, the Ivory Dream. She doesn't have the memories of my old ship, but she's been home for a while now. What do you think?"

"You own this ship?" Caitlin asked, disbelievingly as they walked up the ramp.

Jak laughed a little, but for a moment seemed sad. "Yeah she's all mine. I made the mistake of taking a job for the Alliance and lost my last partner, and our ship. All I've got left from that is her old droid. Some General arranged for me to take this ship, saying that he wished he could do more." He hid his sadness behind a grin that would fool most people, and for once the young Jedi noticed some of the slight signs that this man had experienced many years.

Caitlin hoped to come up with a better conversation as they made their way past the lounge. "So, where are you from?"

Jak sighed and gave her a sideways glance as he answered. "Alderaan." Caitlin was left silently stunned, her head lowering feeling slightly guilty. She'd heard about the Empire using a monstrous battlestation to destroy the world. This didn't escape his notice as the made their way to the cockpit. "Don't worry, it's not like I had anything to miss there." As they walked into the cockpit, the girl noticed that in the place of the co-pilot's seat was a short cylindrical droid with a dome top, interfacing with the console. It's 'head' turned to face them as they entered, and it gave a few beeps, whistles and other sounds of it's language. "Hey, Ten! How many times have I told you not to be rude in front of passengers, especially ones that've paid upfront?" The droid R2 droid retorted with a few more sounds.

Caitlin laughed, and gave a wry grin. "Now why would he think of you as a 'dirty old man'?"

Jak sighed and glared at the droid. "He's just trying to get under my skin. I'm half tempted to give his personality core a good scrubbing." Ten quickly turned its head back to the console! "It may be a little late for introductions, but Caitlin, meet R2-10. Probably the most quarrelsome R2 ever made. Shiri liked him the way he was, so I put up with his quirks, but sometimes he really pushes it."

"I see." The young woman was still grinning.

"Just how old are you anyway?" Jak asked.

"I'm sixteen." Caitlin answered, wondering why it even mattered.

"And you're sure about leaving home? This isn't some spur of the moment thing to get back at your folks?" Jak seemed a little suspicious of her motives.

The girl seemed a little pained. "I don't have anyone waiting for me at home anymore. Right now I need to get to Onderon."

"Getting to Onderon will take about a day after we leave Nar Shadda, and the trip there is two. C'mon I'll show you a cabin you can use while you're with us." Jak walked away, only waiting a second to make sure she was following him. The cabins were located on the port side of the ship, very close to the cockpit. Jak showed her to the first door. "Here you go." He pointed to the middle door. "The 'fresher's in there, and my cabin is the next one."

"Thank you." Caitlin gave him a slight nod as she thanked him. "Why are we going to Nar Shadda first?"

"I've got a delivery to complete, nothing that should take too long." Given her current impression of the man who seemed a little more than twice her age, she was a little curious about the delivery, but refrained from asking to keep from creating any more awkward moments. They returned to the cockpit and Jak piloted them out of the atmosphere and took them into hyperspace once Ten calculated the route.

When Jak awoke the next morning, at least morning according to how he'd spent the last few days, he went to the 'fresher, but before he opened the door, he heard the shower running. "Oh yeah, forgot about her." He sighed half awake. He decided to see if he could sate some of his curiosity that had been in the back of his mind since she recovered his starport visa from Crix. He was now actively listening to the shower as he opened the door to her cabin. "Let's see what we have here." He scanned the room, noting her boots, belt, and outer robe lying neatly on her bed, and on the small table were two familiar objects, which he hadn't seen the likes of since he was a boy. There sat two identical lightsabers with a few cleaning tools laid out next to them. "Well I'll be." He grinned. "Now, what would a kid be doing with these?" He had a good feeling that he now understood how she managed to get his visa back, but he was now left with other questions. Unfortunately these knew questions distracted him from the task of listening for the shower to stop and he soon felt the distinct sensation of a woman's glare! He turned around to see Caitlin wearing her thin, grey inner robe, darker colored pants, and an unpleasant scowl on her face. Her brown hair was still damp from the shower.

"And here I thought having a cabin instead of having to sleep in the cargo hold meant I'd have some privacy." There was a hint of sarcasm in her tone, but she was definitely not amused by his intrusion.

"I'm sorry, but it's my responsibility to make sure there's nothing dangerous on my ship."

"You could have just asked." She snarled at him.

"Would you have told me the truth?"

"Get out!" She pointed back into the corridor as she yelled at the top of her lungs.

Later, the young Jedi sat at the table in the small ship's lounge, moping. She was once again fully dressed with her dark, charcoal grey outer robe. Ten rolled up to the holotable and activated the black and white checkered, circular game board with its various alien game pieces. It then turned its little head towards her and made a few of its beeps and whistle sounds. She laughed a little as she looked at the little droid to respond. "Not really interested in playing against a droid. Dejarik is a game of strategy, not a simple game of statistics." She raised an eyebrow as the droid beeped a taunt. "I'll show you who should be afraid!" A few hours passed and Caitlin had less than a third of her pieces, while Ten had a little more than half of his. As the girl sat there trying to think out her next move, the little R2 unit made a few beeps and whistles trying to get her to hurry up. "I'm not stalling; I'm making sure about my next move. There's no way I'm losing to a droid." She finally made her move, taking one of his more powerful pieces, and he immediately made the next move winning the match! As Ten's piece moved into position for the win, Caitlin's jaw dropped. "I can't believe it! I lost to a droid." Her shoulders slumped.

"Don't beat yourself up over it, he was taught by the best, but he's only had me to beat, lately." Caitlin gave Jak a sideways glare as he tried to comfort her.

The young Jedi then looked to Ten. "Could you please tell the Captain that I'm still not talking to him?" The droid seemed amused as it turned its head, and relayed the message.

He shook his head. "Oh yeah, that's real mature. Passing a message through a droid that doesn't speak galactic basic."

"What do you care how mature I am?" She stood up and yelled at him, having a little trouble keeping herself in check.

"I care because I know what happens to Jedi that don't watch their temper. They wind up doing things they'll regret" He told her, sternly.

Caitlin took a deep breath and crossed her arms. "I'm no Jedi." This made Jak raise an eyebrow, disbelievingly.

"You seem like a smart kid, so I don't think you'd be carrying those lightsabers if you didn't know how to use them; and I know you used some kind of Jedi trick on Crix to get my visa back." There wasn't a shred of doubt in his voice. "If you're not a Jedi, then what are you?"

She sighed as she sat back down. "I was trained in the ways of the Jedi, but I haven't gone through the trials yet. Master Van was murdered before he felt I was ready." Jak could see the pain in her eyes as she mentioned her master. Her pain touched the memory of his own recent loss and he sat down beside the young woman and put his arms around her to comfort her. She held on to him and let out her tears. "Why did he have to die?"

The Dark Jedi known as Quiyllo traveled through hyperspace in his Z-95 Headhunter. He felt very confident in his decision to track the girl he'd sensed nearby. He noticed a signal coming in through his comm. He opened the channel, hoping for the chance to earn prestige with Lord Zerak. "Greetings Lord Zerak, I have news that should be pleasing." The blonde haired main announced brashly, but was caught off guard by the laugh of a woman with a seductive voice.

"Lord Zerak may be pleased to hear that, but you'll have to tell me first. He'd hate to be disturbed from his meditation for nothing." The woman told him in a taunting fashion.

"Lillith." He snarled the name of the woman. She never seemed like much of a rival, because she never acted as though she desired power for herself. "Why should I trust you to pass this on instead of just keeping it to yourself and betraying me?"

"That is entirely up to you. However, if this is important and I don't tell him, he could eventually find out and punish me for such impudence. You do know that we can wield the power of the dark side without lowering ourselves to the petty power plays of the Sith Empire, do you not?" The tone of the woman who spoke through the comm. maintained its amusement.

"I grow tired of your foolishness. Remind me to kill you when I return." His tone was dry, and deadly serious.

"As you wish." She mocked him. "You'd best give me your report before you forget." He scowled and thought of how much he wished he could strike her down that instant.

"I've killed the old man, it was too easy. However I couldn't find any clues to the library within his hole he was hiding in. However there was a young girl staying with him, and I believe he may have given her the way to find it." He smiled, relishing in the genius of his strategy. "The girl has managed to hop a transport on its way to Nar Shadda. I'll track her from there and soon have the key to finding the Library."

The woman seemed bored. "Have you ever wondered why Lady Raven never wanted us to go after the Library, especially since it holds many important Jedi and Sith Holocrons?"

Quiyllo seemed even more annoyed. "Does it matter? Lord Zerak proved himself stronger when he killed her, and he wants the Library. To me that's all that matters. If you were really one of us then pleasing the Master would be all important to you as well."

"So you say." She replied calmly. Her playful tone was still apparent as she continued. "You have nothing to fear from me. "I am sure Lord Zerak will be pleased to hear your report." With that she closed the channel, leaving Quiyllo alone in his small fighter craft.

"With this mission, I will surpass them all and become Lord Zerak's apprentice! And then I'll take my time tearing her to pieces." His last thought made him grin with great malice.

As the Ivory Dream left Hyperspace the Corellian freighter headed for the moon of Nal Hutta, Nar Shadda. Many know Nar Shadda as the Smuggler's Moon, and for good reason. Caitlin sat in the Navigator's chair, which had usually gone unused. "So, what's Nar Shadda like?" She asked as Jak piloted the ship to a landing pad of the multilayered city.

"Imagine that Cantina you met me in, only a thousand times worse with open slavery, cutthroats, and back alley deals. And that's not even counting all of the bounty hunters." He told her with a half-sarcastic smile. "We'll be fine as long as we don't cause a scene."

"Lovely. I suppose you come here often, but is it really worth the risk. This moon's life feels diseased, and dangerous." She voiced her concern about the unsettling feeling that the moon gave her.

"Don't worry, it's not like it's a Krayt Dragon's belly." He told her as they landed.

"No, it's worse." As the girl made her comment, Jak opened the starboard cargo bay and gantry. As they left the cockpit, the dark haired man reached into a small locker and pulled out a holstered blaster. "What's this for?"

"There are a lot of predators here, and when it comes to predators, its better to look like you can defend yourself." He told her. "Besides, it's probably better if you don't rely too much on your lightsabers while we're here."

"You mean so we don't draw too much unwanted attention?" She asked as they made their way past the lounge.

"Exactly." As they walked down the gantry, they saw an old man with a few workers heading towards the ship. The old man's left leg and arm had been replaced by what looked like old droid parts. Jak smiled as he greeted his old friend. "Hey there old man! How ya doin'?"

"Not too bad. Things have been a little slow, but I've been getting by." The old man looked past to observe the workers as they started unloading the cargo from the hold. "Well, looks like you've finally broken even with Zarga, but what kept you?"

"Crix had one of his lifters snatch my starport visa, and tried to make me take a job for him." He laughed a little. "I wouldn't have managed to get here if it weren't for this kid here."

The old man finally looked directly at Caitlin, and it looked like he almost had a heart attack. "You look just like her. What's your name?"

"Caitlin Tallus; pleased to meet you." She held out her hand to greet him as respectfully as she could.

He smiled and took her hand. "Name's Nate. You look just like a Jedi woman I met." The old man paused, thinking about the woman. "Had to have been a little more than ten years ago. She had this creepy fella following her, and when we were talkin' business in private he called her Master Tallus. You must be her daughter or somethin'. I know the galaxy is a big place but that'd be one heck of a coincidence."

She smiled as she pulled back her hand. "Yeah, I guess it would. I never knew my mother. Can you tell me anything about this woman you say you met?"

A warm smile shined on Nate's wrinkled face. "Sure thing, but only if you and Jak join me for dinner."


	3. Chapter 3

Star Wars:  
**Dark Legacy**

By: Myst-Dragon

_Chapter 3_

Caitlin and Jak entered the Cantina where they agreed to meet Nate for dinner. Caitlin looked around the main room. The area looked even dingier than the one she'd met Jak in, but the Bith band helped keep the atmosphere relatively upbeat. What the girl sensed from the moon still made her feel uneasy. "Is this really a good place to eat and talk?"

Jak laughed. "Don't worry. It may not look like it, but this place has great food, and people only pay attention to you if they think you have something to hide." The man's words did little to put her at ease as they made their way to the table where Nate sat. They joined the old man at the table and ordered some food.

"So, what can you tell us about that woman you met?" Caitlin asked with a slight smile, trying to sound pleasant. She didn't like being on the 'Smuggler's Moon', and the young woman felt uncomfortable holding a conversation in the Cantina.

The old man could tell she was forcing herself to smile and be polite in spite of her discomfort with the place and her obvious desire to get down to business. This made Nate grin as he started. "It's not a long story, so we should be able to cover everything before you get bored and want to move on to more recent events." The old man paused deliberately, scratching his brow with his droid arm as he grabbed a drink with his right. He noted a twitch of frustration on her face, and thought to himself, 'She's a serious one.', and continued. "Goin' on about ten years ago, I'd gotten myself into a little misunderstanding with some of the local thugs. Back in those days I still had everything I was born with. Anyway, I was running from these guys and before I knew it, I was trapped in a dead end! As they were about to tear into me; she'd jumped between us and 'persuaded' them to forget why they were mad at me. I'll never forget the face of that woman." Nate smiled at the memory, and resumed. "It turned out she was told to find me because she wanted to use my smuggler connections. Lucky me."

Jak Laughed, and shook his head grinning. "That's about the only real reason most people would help you; you old goat. Did she let slip what she needed moved?" He asked his question shortly after they were left with their food.

The old man cocked an eyebrow as a glared at Jak. "Who're you callin' an old goat?" He shook his head and continued. "They needed some ships delivered for them. Saying they disliked the Emperor would be an understatement, but I don't think they were linked to the Rebellion. Tallus, was very hard to read, but the guy with her practically wore his heart on his sleeve. He may have been doing a fair job controlling it, but it wasn't hard to tell that he was the ambitious type, seemed to have a lot of built up anger two."

"Did the man with her have anything, or do anything that would make you think he was a Jedi?" Caitlin asked, leaning in.

The girl's question made him laugh. "You mean except call the woman 'Master'? No, there wasn't anything to separate him from any resident on this moon." The insinuation Caitlin caught in his statement caused her to look at him suspisciously.

"If he's the kind of person you seem to think he was, then I can only hope he wasn't trained in the ways of the Jedi." She commented as she brushed back some of her short, brown hair.

Nate couldn't help but laugh. "I like this kid, she's sharp!" He looked over to his friend. "You should try to keep her on board, Jak. She seems smart, and I'd bet she's handy in a fight." The old man looked at her as if he were examining a rare stone, and amended. "Plus, she's easy on the eyes!"

Jak groaned. "She's sixteen."

The old man took a bite of his food and grinned. "She'll get older."

On one of the Moon's docking station near where Jak's ship, the Ivory Dream, had landed, a tall man wearing a black cloak walked down the ramp of his small ship. His hood was drawn, casting a shadow over his face. As he walked to the dock's exit; three men approached him. One was a red scaled, reptilian alien holding a repeating blaster rifle. One of the two human thugs approached him with more confidence than the he felt the thug should have. The man's voice was heavily accented as if he were more used to speaking Huttesse, rather than Galactic Basic. "You want to land here; then you gotta pay our toll. This is our dock, and we don' let anybody land here without paying." The reptilian alien smirked and gave the trigger guard of his rifle a few taps.

"Remove yourselves from my sight and never bother me again." He ordered the men with an even greater arrogance in his tone. As the reptilian alien readied his rifle, the man reached out his left hand and grabbed the alien through the Force, and ignited a yellow lightsaber blade, skewering the man that spoke to him. As the man he'd skewered with the one activated blade of the double lightsaber fell, he tossed the alien over the railings and approached the remaining human. The man cowered, looking at the cloaked man as a cornered mouse might look at a cat. A grin was barely detectable under his hood. "If you can prove yourself useful, I might spare your life. Do you know where I can find a ship called, the Ivory Dream?" The cowering man could only manage to silently. "Good, then lead me to it and you will have your opportunity to escape." The Dark Jedi was sure to emphasize 'opportunity' as he spoke.

As they reached a point where the two men could see Jak's Correllian ship, they held back where the men unloading its cargo couldn't see them. While the Dark Jedi studied the activity surrounding the small freighter, his guide began to creep away. Before the frightened man could turn around, the tall man reached back without averting his eyes from the ship, and used the Force to strangle his guide. The man's face is filled with fright as his hands struggle to find the unseen hand crushing his throat. As his body became lifeless, the tall man made a slight gesture, sending him over the railing.

With the guide disposed of, he pulled down the hood of his cloak, revealing spiked, blonde hair. Quiyllo reached into his cloak and pulled out a small, spherical remote droid. He activated the droid, and it floated off to the side, making its way into the open cargo bay of the YT-1930 freighter. He smiled as the small droid entered the ship, unseen by even the R2 unit sitting near the cargo bay entrance.

That evening Caitlin found herself in an empty void, surrounded by darkness. The young woman looked around and could see herself clearly as if she were standing under the midday sun. She was fully dressed in her dark, Charcoal grey outer robe tunic and boots, with the lighter grey inner robe and pants. Her feet seemed firmly planted on an unseen surface. She glanced around nervously and moved her feet into a defensive posture as she her approaching footsteps echo all around her. As the footsteps came ever closer, she saw a woman dressed in Jedi robes colored primarily in black approach. The woman wore a single silver and black lightsaber on her belt, and looked as Caitlin might in her twenties. "Who are you?" The young Jedi apprentice asked, barely concealing her nervousness.

The woman gave a light laugh in response, which did little to ease Caitlin's nerves, and spoke with a pleasant tone. "I am you, or rather a part of you which you've been suppressing." She paused with a smile that showed her confidence. The younger woman didn't like it at all. It made her feel like a cornered mouse.

She shoved her fears aside and decided to ask another question, hoping to arm herself with knowledge. "Why are you… why are _we_ here?" She asked her question even though she thought she might not get a straight answer.

Much to her irritation, the woman continued to smile ruefully. "I have a warning for you." The simple answer caught Caitlin off guard and stunned her. "The man who murdered your master is looking for you. He will find you on Onderon. You only have to continue the quest Master Van gave you, but be warned, you cannot defeat him as you are." She spoke sharply as she finished her warning.

"What are you trying to tell me to do then?" The teenaged girl tried gain herself some sense of control as she asked.

The woman's smile widened. "You only have to accept the power buried within you. The power that you've been trained to burry and reject! If you fight him without that power, then you will die!"

Caitlin's eyes narrowed as she took what felt like a bold step forward. "I won't turn to the dark side. I won't be consumed for the sake of vengeance!"

The woman sighed. "Perhaps if I give you a taste of what you'll face, and what you will need to survive, you may see things differently." With that, she reached out to Caitlin's neck, and the girl felt herself being strangled!

Caitlin awoke, sitting up in an instant. She was once again in the bed she'd laid down on, onboard the Ivory Dream, and stripped down to her light grey inner robe. She was covered in sweat, and her throat felt sore as she rubbed it. "Was that just a dream?" She asked herself nervously as she looked around, noting her gear on the nearby table. She found it difficult to get back to sleep, but once she did, no other dreams haunted her.

With Jak's business on Nar Shadda complete, they left the moon soon after waking up. Caitlin spent the morning half in a daze as she cleaned up, maintained her gear and wandered the small YT-1930; occasionally rubbing her throat. R2-10 kept watch in the cockpit as Jak and Caitlin sat in the galley for lunch. Jak had prepared a simple meal and sat a plate down on the small round table for each of them. He'd half cleaned his plate when he saw hers was completely undisturbed. "I know it doesn't look like much, but it's better than what they serve in that cantina Nate likes to visit."

"It's alright." Her answer was weak and half-hearted, as she looked to the plate and up at him.

He sighed. "Cait, what's wrong? You've walking around like a zombie and going at your neck all morning." His eyes held nothing but earnest concern.

She looked away. "I just had a bad dream and I'm a little tired, that's all." Jak didn't have to be a genius to tell she was hiding something.

"It might help if you talk about it." Jak suggested, hoping she might open up.

"I can't really remember much of it." She lied, still looking away from the older man, weakly. Her memories of the previous night's dream were in fact still quite vivid. She especially remembered the very real feeling of being strangled. "I'm just tired from not sleeping well, that's all."

He sighed again and spoke softly to the young woman. "Something's bothering you. I can tell, but if you don't want to talk about it, then I won't try to force you to. Just remember, I'll be there for you when you're ready."

As she slowly stood, it looked as though she were bearing the weight of the galaxy. "I'm going to take a nap. Don't bother worrying about me."

As the young woman walked away, he shook his head. "Real smooth."

The next morning Jak took the ship out of Hyperspace and began landing procedures with the spaceport nearest where Caitlin told him she needed to go. It wasn't long before the Ivory Dream finished setting down in one of the port's docking bays. "Ok Ten, keep watch on the ship. We'll probably stay here a day or so extra to see if any jobs come up. Besides, I hear this port has a good Pazaak scene. Once the engines and other main systems were taken offline, he went to Caitlin's quarters, where the young woman had been since they last spoke the previous afternoon. He knocked on her door, pausing to give her a chance to answer.

"Just a minute." She answered, and a moment later she opened the door, ready to go. She showed no signs of anything being wrong, as she had the day before. She gave him a slight smile to hide the fact that she was still worried about the attack which may or may not come. "I'm ready to go."

Jak could very well see that she was ready. He looked her over, seeing that she was wearing her normal robes, the blaster he gave her was strapped on, and he'd bet his life that her lightsabers were strapped in place under the sleeves of her dark grey outer robe. "I guess that little 'nap' did you some good. Just remember; as long as you're with me you can talk to me about anything that's bothering you."

She shook her head a little. "You really shouldn't worry about me. You'll be rid of me soon enough." With that she started on her way off the ship. Once they departed the ship, Ten closed the gantry.

"You know Cait, there's no rule that says I can't worry about whoever I want. Besides, as I recall Jedi are supposed to be trained in Diplomacy and Protocol; as well as being taught to use their training to help others." The light-hearted tone of Jak's comment made the teen feel a little better.

"I'm sorry for not having much practical experience." She apologized jokingly as they walked through the settlement. "Did you manage to pull up a map of the area?" She asked as she pulled out her datapad.

"Give me your datapad and I'll give you a copy." Caitlin handed hers over and Jak setup the data transfer. It was finished in a matter of seconds. "There ya go." He told her casually as he returned her datapad. "Just what are you here after anyway?"

"I'll tell you once we've cleared the settlement. You know, you didn't have to come with me."

"Chalk it up to an old man's intuition, but I'm pretty sure you're gonna need some backup." He grinned.

"You're not that old, you're barely old enough to be my father." She gave him a wry grin. Soon after, the pair made arrangements to rent a set of swoop bikes, and made out for Caitlin's target. They passed through one of the planet's forests to arrive at what seemed like an ancient temple. They passed into the large courtyard to see the entrance to the main part of the temple, which was built into a mountainside. "Well, we're here. Once I get the artifact Master Van left in here, you can take me to my next stop and I'll be…" She paused as she caught sight of the pair of statues, surrounding the door.

"What's wrong?" Jak asked, as he moved a hand down to his holster.

"I thought I sensed the Dark Side, but I didn't expect to see Freedon Nadd's image here." She looked at the images of the long dead dark Jedi as if she expected them to come to life and attack.

"So, was this guy supposed to be a Jedi?" Jak asked, half-joking.

"He once was, a long time ago, but then he turned to the Dark side. I was taught about him and that he was trained by the spirit of the Dark Lord Naga Sadow." The young Jedi apprentice continued on as she worked on controlling her anxiety.

"I never would've expected a Jedi to hide something important in a place like this." Jak mused as he followed the girl. "It actually seems like a pretty clever camouflage." As they walked through the well worn halls of the abandoned temple, the pair heard a skittering sound on the floor. From around a corner, walked two grotesque creatures. They appeared to be giant spiders with long legs and necks. Caitlin quickly used her powers to pull her lightsabers to her hands, and wasted no time igniting them. The predators wasted no time as they aggressively skittered across the floor. The young woman threw one of her sabers, and used the Force to guide it as it sawed through the body of one of the beasts. As its partner was cut, the other long-necked spider leapt for Caitlin's head! The beast was shot out of the air, inches away from her pale face. "Caitlin, you alright?" Jak asked as they checked the two dead creatures.

"I'm fine, thanks." As she answered, gratefully, it seemed like she'd been holding her breath. They had several more encounters with the strange predators as they wandered the halls, until Caitlin sensed something familiar. Jak gave her a strange look, as she stopped and began examining one of the walls. Before he could ask, she activated a hidden trigger, opening a hidden door. Past the door, they saw a triangular holocron mounted onto an old terminal. "Looks like we've found the key." As she attempted to interface her datapad with it, a message appeared requesting a pass code. She thought about it for a moment and then spoke with an old Corellian dialect. "Seize the day, but live for peace." After a moment her datapad's screen flashed as the holocron began transferring data. Once the process of copying was completed, she returned her datapad to its pocket inside her robe, and they carefully made their way back out.

The pair emerged from the temple, to see Quiyllo waiting for them in the middle of the courtyard. Caitlin flinched as she almost attacked him right out for murdering Master Van. "Give me back Master Van's lightsaber and turn yourself in, I don't want to kill you." As she made her request, her voice quaked as she felt a part of herself crying out for his blood!

The blonde haired man smirked as he stood up to his tall, lanky height. "Isn't that cute? You don't want to kill me, huh? Your fear is delicious. You know you're too weak to go up against a disciple of the Dark Side." He pointed towards the temple with his left hand as he brought out the lightsaber he acquired while fighting Caitlin's master. "Give me what you've recovered from there, and I'll let you run for your worthless lives." His arrogance flowed through every syllable as he spoke. He lowered his hand, activated both sides of the double lightsaber, and stood there; giving Caitlin a chance to surrender to what he felt was his superior strength. After all, he'd beaten a Jedi Master. There was no way a whelp that hadn't even achieved knighthood could beat him.

Caitlin gritted her teeth as she used her power to call her lightsabers from their hiding places. "I can't hand it over to someone who'd fallen to the Dark Side. Don't make me fight you."

Jak pulled his blaster, and brought it to bear on their tall foe. "You'd better listen to the lady. Even being a Dark Jedi, I don't see how you could stand a chance against the two of us."

"Allow me to illuminate you then." Quiyllo held out his left hand and used the Force to pull Jak's blaster from his hand. The next instant, he'd charged Caitlin. The young Jedi barely had time to bring her lightsabers up in defense! She struggled to defend herself against the torrent of slashes and thrusts from Quiyllo's double-sided lightsaber. She gasped as one of the golden lightsaber blades grazed her left thigh, and she barely managed to perform a back-flip to avoid a slash that would have taken off her legs below the knees. Before her feet had settled back on the ground; the Dark Jedi Used the Force to push her. As her back struck the wall she nearly dropped her lightsabers. As she returned to her feet, she saw her enemy standing before her as if she were harmless. "Do you finally understand my superior strength? Do you understand you have no chance against me?"

She could feel her anger and fear building up inside. The anger she felt at this man who'd killed her master had been growing strongly since the beginning of the battle. It was as if the temple itself had been feeding her emotions. She noticed Jak starting to move, and called out to him. "Stay back!"

"I'm getting bored with this. Let's make it more interesting." Quiyllo yawned lazily and started walking towards Jak. "I'm going to see how you feel about witnessing a murder with your own eyes." Caitlin leapt at her foe with a vicious slash, forcing him to turn around to block. "I see you're really ready to fight now."

"I won't let you use the Force or that lightsaber to murder anyone else!" Quiyllo forced her back, and the two began exchanging blows. Her attacks were now far more aggressive! As the tall man tried to use the Force to choke her, she used her power to push him into a wall. He grunted with the impact and dropped the double lightsaber. As he looked up at her, he finally noticed the true nature of the change that had occurred within her. Before he could say anything, he felt himself lifted off the ground and was flung into another wall. The impact nearly broke one of his ribs. The Dark Jedi once again felt himself being lifted off the ground, but this time there was the additional sensation of an invisible hand strangling him. "Is this something like what you trying to do?" Her tone was deathly serious as she scowled at him. It was now his turn to feel fear, only his fear was far different from what Caitlin felt. At that moment he feared for his very life. "How does it feel to know you're going to die?"

"Caitlin! You have to stop. You can't kill him out of anger or hate!" Jak called out to her, hoping to call her back from the darkness.

"And why not? He murdered Master Van, and who knows how many other people!" She yelled back at him.

"Caitlin, you have to let go of your anger. If you kill him like this, then you'll be just like him. Do you think your master would want that!" He walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

A tear rolled down her cheek as she lowered her hand, letting Quiyllo fall. He groaned as he hit the ground. "You're right." Caitlin spoke in a low voice as she turned to face him. The young woman burst into tears as she wrapped her arms around him. "Why'd he have to die and leave me alone? I need him, but now he's gone! What am I going to do?"

"You can stay with me for as long as you need. I'll help you." His words comforted her.

"Thank you."

"What do you say; we get out of here now?" Jak asked with a slight smile. As Jak held Caitlin, Quiyllo's eyes opened and he glared at the young Jedi, whose back was exposed to him. He quickly reached out with his power, pulling Jak's blaster to his hand. The moment he pulled the trigger, Caitlin pushed her friend aside, using one of her lightsabers to deflect the blaster bolt. The deflected bolt struck Quiyllo between the eyes. She dropped her lightsaber in shock. "Damned fool." Jak cursed, as he retrieved his blaster from Quiyllo's corpse. "C'mon Caitlin, let's get out of here."


	4. Chapter 4

Star Wars:  
**Dark Legacy**

By:

Myst Dragon

**Chapter 4**

Caitlin sat alone in the crowded cantina filled with a myriad of alien races. She sat down her cup and ran her fingers through her shoulder length, brown hair. She adjusts the folds of her charcoal colored outer robe. Her hazel eyes burn with annoyance as a strange man approached her table. "A girl like you could earn a good life for herself, if you know who to follow." The man carried himself in an arrogant manner and spoke with the accent of someone more used to speaking Huttesse than Galactic Basic.

She looked up at the man, looking slightly annoyed. "And if I decline?"

He gave her a smug grin. "That would be unwise. Once I show the Hutt your image, he'll be even more interested in you than I am."

Caitlin sighed. "Let me put it this way." She waved her hand and spoke a little bit more calmly, "You're not interested in me. You are going to leave and forget you ever saw me."

The man appeared to be in a daze after she spoke. "I'm not interested in you. I'm leaving." As he walked away, the young woman smirked to herself. A few moments later she saw another man approach the table. She grinned mischievously as the black haired man walking towards her adjusted the straps on his holster.

"Hey Jak. Did the slug come through?" She was hopeful as she asked her companion. They were running low on funds as they tried to decipher the information they recovered from

Jak smiled, feeling good for himself. "Moltza paid for the shipment, and I managed to wrangle another job for us."

The young Jedi apprentice groaned. "Oh great; another Hutt job. It's disgusting to think of the kinds of things that they deal in."

The smuggler tried to keep his voice down as he reiterated their situation to her. "Give me a break kid! We need the credits if we're going to cover costs of looking for this library your old master hid."

Caitlin glared defiantly at him. "I'm not a kid!"

Jak shook his head. "You're only sixteen. That and despite your training you still act like a kid."

"We could take some jobs from the Alliance." She decided to suggest a more tasteful way to earn some credits, hoping he might take interest.

Jak couldn't help but chuckle a little to himself. "The Alliance doesn't pay very well, especially now that the emperor is dead."

The mention of the fallen Sith, reminded Caitlin of another who was feared throughout the Galaxy. "And Vader. I don't think anyone could really imagine what it's like growing up thinking that any day could be the day that he comes to get you!"

"Personally, I'd like to go without even hearing about Dark Jedi, since that one you killed last month."

"He had a master. Someone we should be wary of." Caitlin's eyes softened as she remembered the encounter, especially how she'd momentarily lost herself to the Dark Side of the Force.

The older man couldn't help but laugh at how she phrased her statement "'Wary of' I don't hear too many kids say things like that. Of course, for the last month I haven't heard much of anything out of you."

Caitlin gave him a look, which revealed the burden that came with remembering that fight. "I've just had a lot on my mind. Are you ready to leave, I don't really like these city-planets very much." With that she gave him a warm smile as if there wasn't anything wrong with the world.

In a dimly lit room a blonde man, wearing black robes sat in deep meditation. Shortly after he took a deep breath, his lightsaber rose off the stone floor, slowly spinning, as it reached face level. Once it reached its destination, it stopped and its crimson blade ignited! Soon after a spherical machine activated and rose off the floor. As it fired a red energy bolt, the saber moved to deflect it. The small machine continued to fire, with a gradually increasing rate. As this exercise continued, a cloaked man with hood drawn cautiously entered the room. When the man stopped the lightsaber slashed through the small machine, extinguished, and flew into the hands of its owner. He stood, turning to face his visitor, whom promptly knelt before him. The kneeling man spoke in high esteem. "Forgive the intrusion Darth Zerak, but I thought you should know that we managed to track them to Taris."

Zerak adjusted his robes as he spoke to the kneeling man. "This news sounds too good for the concern I sense in you." His brow furrowed in annoyance.

Kazen coughed nervously. "We lost track of them as they left the planet." He suddenly found himself rise off the marble floor and is violently thrown into the stone wall by an invisible force. As he fell to the floor, his hood fell revealing his black hair and chiseled face.

The man known as Darth Zerak yelled at his student. "Imbecile! Raven must be laughing at me from the beyond at the incompetents I have vying to be my apprentice! First Quiyllo fails to bring me the girl, and now you can't even keep track of her! We need her to access the library." His eyes were literally red with anger.

Kazen made his way back to a kneeling position. "Your former master has nothing to find joy in. My poison and your blade did her in with ease. A dying woman's curse is meaningless."

Zerak remembered the smile on her face as his former master fell dying, after yelling her curse. "You would be wise not to mention that again! Do not bring me news like this ever again." Kazen bowed before his lord and left the chamber. As he retreated from the room, he was greeted by the sight of an auburn haired woman, her emerald eyes glimmering with mirth. "I told you should have waited for me to return. Now you've gone and upset the master for nothing. I've found their next destination."

Kazen's eyes began to burn with rage, just like the dark lord he'd just spoke with. "When did you discover this, Lillith?" He asked, scowling at the woman

Lillith placed her right hand to her chin playfully in thought, "Let's see now, it was just before I sat down to have a drink, so it was about an hour ago!" Kazen's anger exploded and he struck at the woman with his red light saber. Lillith effortlessly raised her own golden hued saber in defense. "Your two weaknesses are your lack patience and your temper." She gave him a playful smile. "At least you're not as bad as poor dead Quiyllo. Now he really lost his mind in the end."

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" The Dark Jedi yelled his question at the woman, not caring that she was not intimidated.

"What, and let you take the credit? How about I do this to make it up for you?" Lillith asked, toying with him. "I'll just tell you where the kid is going and you can go fetch her yourself. That should impress the master." With that she gave a warm smile, and Kazen lowered his saber, turning it off. "They are going to deliver something to a Black Sun faction on Zaanrak. It's very close to the cave that Lady Raven used to meditate, before Lord Zerak challenged her." The Dark Jedi's voice betrayed her reverence for the former master.

A few days later, Jak had finished his dealings with the Black Sun contact and was on his way back to meet with Caitlin. As he walked, he found himself drawn towards the fairly large pool of an inn. As he walked by the pool he saw an auburn haired woman reach for a small bottle, which fell from its spot on the table as her fingers glanced it. The bottle soon found itself at Jak's feet. The woman stood from her seat as he picked it up. "Thank you. There are so few gentlemen in the galaxy these days." She gave him a playful smile. Lillith was glad that he'd met with his Black Sun contact alone as she'd anticipated. She knew that the girl would have sensed her using the Force to lure him in.

Jak couldn't help but appreciate her in her red bikini as he returned her bottle. "It was my pleasure." He told her, unaware that he'd been drawn into her web.

"Would you mind helping me put some of this on my back?" She made her request in her usual playful tone.

"Sure." With that, the woman laid down, leaving her back exposed to him; and he began applying the lotion to her back.

"You're good. I came here to explore the caves, and I found a terminal hidden away in one. Doesn't that sound strange?" She smiled as his hands stopped. "Is something wrong?" Her question was one more ploy.

"Where did you find this cave?"

"Let me see your datapad." Wordlessly, Jak pulled handed over his datapad and Lillith quickly entered the coordinate data. "Here you go, now if you don't mind finishing?"

Jak took a quick look at the data, and laughed a little. "It would be my pleasure."

Caitlin sat at the galley table, and brushed back some of her brown hair as she poured over her datapad. "I finally deciphered the first half!" She exclaimed to herself as she sat it down on the table. "The Force guided us here, didn't it, Master Van?" She gave a quirky smile as she propped her chin on her hands. "You sure made this difficult." "You sure made this difficult." Her stomach growled as she looked down at her half eaten breakfast, and then to the chronometer to see that it was just past noon. "Jak should be back soon, I'd better get this cleaned up." Once she'd cleaned up her plate, she started working on lunch and thought a little to herself about what she'd been working on. "First we had to unlock the data just to copy it, and now we have to decipher it. Now that I finally deciphered the first half, all I need is the second cipher key to read the rest. Don't worry Master, we'll find the Library and make sure that no one can abuse the knowledge hidden there."

"So, where do you think we should look for it?" Caitlin turned around to see Jak standing behind her. He gave her a slight grin.

"I finally deciphered the first half. It says a little about the library, but it also mentions general coordinates for a cave to find the key to deciphering the rest. You probably won't believe this but it's not far south from here."

Jak pulled out his datapad, pulled up the map, and tossed it to the apprentice Jedi. As she looked at it, her jaw dropped in shock. "That cave is in the coordinate area in Master Van's data! How did you get this?"

The smuggler looked pleased with himself. "I coaxed it out of a woman I met after getting our payment from Black Sun. She said she likes to explore caves and that she found a strange terminal in that cave." He gave a slight chuckle. "Times like this, I actually believe the Force guides us when it wants to."

Caitlin couldn't help but smile. "Sounds like something an old Jedi would say." Her smile faded as she thought about her dreams, or rather her nightmares. "I wonder if I'll ever be a Jedi. I lost to the darkness inside once before and if it wasn't for you I probably would have fallen completely to the Dark Side. What if it happens again and I become completely lost in it?"

Jak placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we all have a dark side. It's just a matter of not acting because of those feelings, right?"

"It's not the same. What I feel deep inside of me isn't just my own fear, anger, or hatred. When I fought Quiyllo, it fed off the Dark Side energy residing in that temple until I couldn't hold it back any longer. When that happened all I wanted was to make him suffer as much as I could before I destroyed him." A tear fell from her eye. "For as long as I can remember; I've always struggled against feelings like this."

He wrapped his arms around her. "Let it all out. You've got a good heart and believe me; that's all that matters. If you had to be a saint to be a Jedi, then there wouldn't ever be more than one or two in a lifetime."

As Kazen sat in his room meditating, Lillith entered wearing her Black and grey robes. With her entrance, he opened his eyes and smiled. "Were you successful?"

"Of course. By this time tomorrow they should arrive at the cave." As she answered, the auburn haired woman used a humble tone. "You will finally secure your place as the master's apprentice and I'm sure you'll remember me."

"You're really counting on them not taking the chance of returning after nightfall, aren't you?" He asked seemingly amused.

"Most successful smugglers aren't known for taking foolish risks. Might I suggest starting the fight by stunning him with a mild injury?" Lillith smiled. "I'd like to kill him myself."

"I'm just glad you've decided to acknowledge my superiority, but remember. When this is over, you'll have my favor, not my trust."

"Of course, Lord Kazen. That is most gracious of you." She bowed to him before turning around and walking out, with a grin on her face.

The next morning Jak and Caitlin took a pair of swoop to the cave. As they approached, the young Jedi apprentice shuddered. "The Dark Side is strong in that place." As they stood before the entrance, she continued. "It feels the same as what I feel trying to claw its way from inside me." She placed her arms around her chest as if she were trying to hold something close. "Something in there is calling out to the darkness within."

Jak put his hand on her shoulder. "We can go back if you want, but if you want to find the library I'll be by your side to remind you that you can still fight it." With that, the young woman nodded, and they started on their way through the cave. Despite her fears, Caitlin followed the darkness in the cave to its source.

As they reached the heart of the cavern, they found themselves in a fairly large cavern. It was obvious that this had been carved into a meditation chamber. When their eyes found the center, they saw a man wearing black robes sitting in the center. Kazen smiled as he stood to greet them. "Welcome home, Caitlin Tallus."

Her lightsabers flew to her hands in an instant. "What are you talking about?"

Kazen smiled. "You were born to join us. Come with me and give us the library and we will teach you how to master the power of the Dark Side."

"I won't lose to the Dark Side! I owe that much to Master Van." She answered with as much conviction as she could while holding the Dark Side at bay.

Kazen sighed. "I suppose this means I'll have to take you back without arms or legs." He began to walk slowly towards them with the air of a fierce deity. "You defeated Quiyllo. I'll give you that, but he was nowhere near my level. I do have to wonder though. Raven Tallus was the strongest among us in her prime, but this child I see before me doesn't even compare." His every step was made with the intent of intimidating her as he approached. When he ignited his red lightsaber, Jak went for his blaster! Before the weapon was free of its holster, Kazen had used the Force to send several rocks at the smuggler. One busted his knee and another smashed against his head, knocking him unconscious.

"Jak!" Caitlin had made the mistake of turning for only a brief moment. By the time her attention returned to her opponent, she'd barely had time to raise her own crimson sabers in defense! For a moment their sabers were locked, until she jumped back and began circling away from her friend. She hoped that the raven haired man would be more interested in fighting her than finishing of a defenseless man. It was becoming more difficult to hold back the darkness. He rushed in again with a thrust to her left shoulder. She winced as the strike grazed her, as she rolled to avoid it. Despite the pain of laser burned flesh, she managed us the roll to counter with a horizontal slash to his mid-section. Before her strike could make contact, he maneuvered his lightsaber to parry hers and managed to give her a light cut across her left thigh as she jumped back.

"Are you beginning to see the difference between myself and Quiyllo? He attacks like a rabid dog, while I prefer to stalk my prey. I will not waste my energy in useless attacks." Kazen grinned at her with a predatory gaze and began stalking towards her once more. Unconsciously her left hand reached out for his throat and she was to try to use the Force to strangle him. She gasped as she realized what she was about to do and pulled her hand back. Kazen used the opportunity to attack with a feinted attack to her right shoulder. As she was about to defend against the attack, she barely noticed his real target in time to move back to keep from losing her right leg! Instead his lightsaber left her with a bad cut on her right thigh. Shifting her weight around had now become painful. As she tried to use the Force to ease her pain, she felt the darkness once again trying to take over. Her opponent once again took advantage of the internal conflict with a thrust to her right shoulder, which would have disabled it if she hadn't used the Force to push him away. Kazen groaned as he struck the far wall of the chamber. "You'll pay for that." He walked towards her once more and released lightning from his left hand. Caitlin quickly locked her sabers together and used them to block the attack, but as she groaned from the complaints of her wounds, she felt herself losing her internal fight!

As Kazen relented in his Force Lightning attack, he rushed forward with another thrust, and was caught off guard as Caitlin's left saber returned to its hiding spot, and lightning shot from the hand that once held it. The Dark Jedi was caught off guard by the unexpected attack and fell to his knee's writhing in pain. When the attack stopped he looked at her and no longer saw the girl he'd come to capture, but the child of the woman, who his poison had helped do in. Her face held a vicious smile which foretold doom to those who crossed her. As he rose to his feet again the young woman reached out to him, he felt an invisible hand lift him from the floor and throw him against the chamber wall, near one of the cavern paths leading to the chamber. He let out a scream as he felt several ribs crack! Before he could regain his footing Caitlin resumed her Force Lightning assault. She looked over to her friend and a tear fell from her eye. "Jak." She spoke his name with barely a whisper, and as she saw the look in his eyes as he looked at her, with blood slipping down the side of his face, she stopped her assault and lowered her hand. "Kazen, why do you covet power that drives you to destroy and hurt others for nothing more than your own gain?"

The Dark Jedi returned to his feet, barely able to stand. "The only way to truly survive in this Galaxy is by having the power to crush your enemies. You were too weak to use the Dark Side to finish me off, and now you'll die!" As he raised his crimson saber, he looked down to see the blade of a golden hued lightsaber thrust through his belly. "W… why?"

"I've been waiting months for this. That woman was like a sister to me, and when she realized the weakness in the Dark Side you poisoned her to help Zerak murder her! Her daughter was not weak in stopping her attack. You were just too blind to see that even a novice could beat you in your current condition." With that Lillith raised her lightsaber, slashing upwards, and allowing Kazen to fall lifelessly to the chamber floor. The auburn haired woman was now wearing dark brown robes. She returned her lightsaber to its place on her belt and walked towards Caitlin, who still had a lightsaber ready in her right hand. "Calm yourself Caitlin; I'm here to help you."

Jak groaned as he stumbled to his feet. "Why should we trust you? You tricked us into coming here."

The woman sighed and turned her head to look Jack in the eyes. "I do apologize but it was necessary and there is a Terminal here. Only I and Lady Raven knew about it. For some reason Master Van trusted that she wouldn't want to go after the library. I never could figure out why though." She turned back to face Caitlin and held a hand out to her. "Please let me help you tame the fire burning inside of you. Use the Force to read my intent, if you have to."

After a moment Caitlin sighed and returned her remaining lightsaber to its hiding spot. "I'll trust you for now."


	5. Chapter 5

Star Wars:  
**Dark Legacy  
**  
By:  
Myst Dragon

Chapter 5

As the Corellian YT-1930, the Ivory Dream flew through hyperspace, Caitlyn and Lillith stood in the ship's cargo hold. The two Force users eased back into fighting stances, and began to perform a paced series of strikes. Caitlyn had performed the exercise many times with Master Van, and its movements were burned into her mind. The young Jedi began to grow impatient and tried to speed up the pace several times. Each time she was rewarded with a sharp smack to a sensitive spot on her body. As they finished the exercise, she clutched her side and looked at the older woman, her eyes betraying her irritation. "Was there a point to that? I thought you were going to teach me something new! What happened to teaching me a new technique to guard against the Dark Side?"

The redhead sighed, and crossed her arms. "You obviously haven't learned the exercise's lesson. We will have to continue training with it until you do."

"Just what exactly, am I supposed to learn from it?" Caitlyn demanded irritably.

Lillith gave her a wry grin. "You'll know the answer to that once you've learned the lesson. Come now, I need to ready you for the trial I've prepared for you on Nar Shadda." They spent the next several hours repeating the exercise. The twenty-nine year old woman was still amazed by how much the young girl looked like Raven, though Lillith kept such thoughts to herself.

Once each of them had showered, they made their way for the ship's galley. On the way the pair was interrupted by Jak's co-pilot. The little astromech droid gave a series of beeps and whistles, causing Caitlyn to laugh a little as Lillith looked to her datapad for translation. "You know Ten; there are polite ways to actually ask someone to perform routine maintenance on you." It answered with another set sounds. "Keep acting like that and we'll see who helps you when you need it." This time the droid gave an apologetic sound. "Alright then, I'll help you out after dinner." This caused Ten to give off a few high pitch beeps and roll off.

The older woman looked at her with a cocked eyebrow. "And just how did you manage that?"

"Manage what?" Caitlyn asked innocently.

"How did you manage to understand what that droid was trying to communicate?"

"When I was little, Master Van taught me how to reach out with the Force to try to understand what others are saying to me. So far I can only seem to understand droids with it though." At first she smiled at the memory, but her expression soon showed a twinge of sadness as she remembered her loss. "I can't stop missing him."

Lillith held the girl close, empathizing with her. "As long as you hold your memory of him close to your heart; he will always be with you.

Lord Zerak sat in his chamber, meditating as he was surrounded by a small group of battle droids, armed with blaster rifles. The instant they pulled their blaster's triggers, the Dark Jedi had leapt outside of the circle, and cut down two of them in the blink of an eye with his crimson saber. The only defense he employed as he cut down the remaining droids was the speed at which he moved to viscously strike each of them down. It was a simple matter to use the Dark Side to guide his lightsaber. When the last one fell, he took a deep breath and deactivated his weapon. "Report." Only a brief moment passed between the time he gave the simple order, and the moment when the doors to his chamber opened. A man wearing simple clothes stepped in and bowed before him.

The man seemed slightly nervous as he stood before the man who wished to proclaim himself a Dark Lord. "It has been several days since we have heard anything from Kazen or Lillith." He paused as he felt the anger rolling off Lord Zerak. It had begun to seem that any effort to locate the hidden library of holocrons for the Dark Jedi had been cursed.

"Continue." The Dark Lord ordered impatiently.

The man gulped nervously, and did as he was ordered. "Our last report from Lillith stated that she was going to confront the girl in a cave on Zaanrak. The man we sent to investigate found Kazen's ship, but no signs of him, and we found the remains of Lillith's ship several kilometers away."

After a moment, the Dark Jedi no longer appeared angry. "Interesting." He seemed to take a moment to think about the information. "Leave me now; I have much to meditate on." With that the other man bowed once again and left him to his thoughts.

The Ivory Dream had made good time on it's trip to Nar Shadda. As Lillith and Caitlyn finished preparing to leave the ship, the older woman saw Jak checking his blaster. "You'll hardly need that while waiting for us on the ship." She informed him dryly.

He glared at her. "On the ship was one thing, but if you think I'm going to leave you alone with her on this damned moon, then you've got another thing coming."

The auburn haired woman sighed, "Please, let's discuss this in the cockpit." She motioned towards the front of the ship with her right hand. The pair walked to the front of the freighter at a brisk pace and as they arrived, Lillith began to carefully slip into the smuggler's mind through the Force. "You must understand that I only have her best interests in mind, and that your presence would only serve as a distraction. You'd only be putting yourself in danger." As she spoke, he couldn't pull his eyes from hers; and as he was about to yell at her, he felt an injector pierce his side. The woman caught him and eased him down to the floor. As she returned to the galley, Caitlyn gave her a curious look.

"Where's Jak?" She asked feeling like something wasn't quite right.

Lillith gave the young woman a relaxing smile. "Don't worry, I managed to convince him to stay on the ship, it's for his own good after all. Now let's go; the one who I've enlisted the aid of isn't known for his patience."

Caitlyn followed her and soon found herself standing in the presence of a Hutt. The young Jedi followed suit as the older woman bowed. "Greetings, mighty Jotan. I trust that what I've asked for has been prepared."

The large creature gave a deep laugh and began to communicate in it's native language. "Everything is as you asked. Karn can guide her."

She smiled. "Good. Well Caitlyn, This Twi'lek can take you to your final test."

The girl seemed nervous. "Just what have you thrown me into?"

Lillith answered her in an ever-playful voice. "Now, now; that would be cheating. It's not much of a test if you know the answers." The woman's words hardly put her at ease as she followed a green skinned Twi'lek. He had one of his head tails wrapped across his throat, while the other hung straight down his back. He soon motioned for her to walk ahead through a doorway. As she passed by him she sensed a need for caution. She found herself in an arena with a fairly large fighter's circle, cut off from the seating by a bubble. She saw Lillith standing next to the Hutt with a sly grin on her face.

Jotan gave another deep laugh that seemed to be so common among his kind. "I've paid good money for you, so if you want to live a long life, you'd better be ready to spend the rest of it entertaining me.

"Goodbye, and thank you for helping me find the Library, this has been very profitable for me." Lillith's words stung, but she had no time to think about them as a group of battle droids and two Gamorreans entered the arena.

She struggled with herself as she did all she could to avoid the stun-sticks wielded by her attackers. She heard a voice in her head, calling to her from deep inside. "You trusted her, and she has betrayed you! Use your full strength to eliminate these nuisances, and teach her why she should be more careful of who she betrays!"

"NO!" Caitlyn yelled as she used the Force to push one of the Gamorreans into a wall, knocking him out! She quickly back-flipped to escape the droids who had encircled her. In mid-air, she pulled her lightsabers to her hands and activated them as she landed. She allowed the Force to guide her as she weaved through the droids, cutting them down, and gave the remaining gamorrean a strong kick to the chest. The alien squealed as it fell, and saw one of her blades coming down for a killing stroke. Caitlyn managed to stop the blade short of his face, and he passed out as she deactivated it. She was angry, but she wouldn't allow that to damn her into needless slaughter. Yes, she felt angry, hurt, and betrayed, but that doesn't mean she has to hurt someone. She looked back up to see Lillith applauding her, and the door she entered through opened.

Remembering her training, the young Jedi took a deep breath and felt out through the Force. She sensed no immediate threats, at least from no one nearby. She attempted to read into the mind of the woman who was roughly twice her age, but the attempt was like trying to grasp a glass ball covered in slick oil. Lillith seemed to have been honest in wanting to help her to foil Zerak, but Caitlyn couldn't help but have her doubts. When she walked back through the doorway, Karn greeted her with a polite bow and motioned for her to follow him. It was at this time that she became aware, that she was still clutching her inactive lightsabers. She quickly returned them to their cradles, hidden beneath the sleeves of her outer robe.

As she entered the main chamber once again, she saw Lillith standing next to the Hutt with a proud smile. "Well done Caitlyn. You managed to resist the Dark Side without suppressing your emotions."

The teen looked at her suspiciously. "Are you so sure that I resisted it?"

Lillith's smile became an amused grin. "If you had fallen, then the droids and gamorreans would have been destroyed in an instant by Force Lightning. There is a difference between fighting when your angry and fighting because your angry. If you fight because your angry, then you've begun to slip to the grips of the dark side. Fighting while you're angry simply means your fighting while being tempted to do more than you should. You did very well not to fall to the pressure I put you under. Just remember that strength. You will need it."

When they returned to the ship, they found Jak sitting in the galley. Even a blind person could see how angry he was. His blaster was aimed at Lillith. "Mind explaining what all this was about?"

The red haired Jedi seemed not to notice his weapon. "I simply did what I had to do. I couldn't let you interfere. With our enemy it is critical that she be as strong as she can be when the time to confront him comes."

"From what I can tell, the only person here that's got a reason to give a damn about this Zerak guy is you. As long as we hurry up and find these Holocrons and then pass them off to the Alliance's Jedi, we won't have to worry about him!"

"If you truly believe that, then you are a fool. Our fates are tied too strongly to his; a confrontation is inevitable." Her voice was oddly calm as she spoke.

Not quite satisfied, Jak still holstered his blaster. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kick you off my ship right now."

Her simple answer came faster than he expected. "Because; you need me against our common enemy."

"Jak, I know you have a hard time trusting her, but we do need her against Zerak." Caitlyn spoke up, hoping to ease the tension.

Wanting to get this mess over with as soon as possible, Jak wasted no time getting his ship on course for the world where the library had been hidden. Soon after he'd placed R2-10 in charge of the controls and monitoring the scanners, the smuggler had gone to bed. With both of her companions asleep, Lillith connected her datapad to the ship's communications console and sent out a prerecorded message. She smiled a devious grin as she put her datapad away and walked away from the console.

Days later, they arrived at their destination. As the ship made it's way down a safe clearing, Caitlyn nearly cursed to herself as she felt the powerful waves of Dark Side energy permeating the area. She nearly jumped as Lillith placed a hand on her shoulder. "Be on your guard, I sense he is near. It appears the Force has drawn him here." The girl looked to the older woman, stunned. "Don't worry though; his pride will have brought him alone to deal with us."

Jak walked in to the galley to hear the woman's last comment, and grabbed her by the shoulder, and spun her around. He spoke through mashed teeth. "And just how would he have known to come here?"

Despite the black haired man's rough treatment, her voice remained calm as Lillith answered him. "As I said before, 'our confrontation with him is inevitable."

He glared at her as he spoke. "I'm coming with you, and I'm not falling for any tricks like back on Nar Shadda."

She sighed. "Very well. Just understand that your blaster will be useless against him and you'll only be a distraction, as you were against Kazen.

After trekking through the rough forests for over half an hour, they came to a small clearing, near a cave and saw a blonde haired man wearing black robes meditating near the cave's entrance. His eyes opened as they walked into the clearing. He rose to his feet and looked to Lillith. "You've done very well apprentice." As Jak began to pull out his blaster, he felt something grip his body and hold him in place. Caitlyn could only step back from her, unsure of what to think. The only response to the young woman's unasked question was Lillith's eyes darting from her to Lord Zerak.

"Lord Zerak, do you want me to kill her or would you prefer to end the Tallus line yourself?" Her question made the Dark Jedi grin.

As he examined the young woman, he was somewhat unsettled by her resemblance to Raven, his former master. "I think I'll take care of her, she just might give me a better workout than the droids." His words were meant to disturb Caitlyn, since he new well, she'd have to be skilled to beat Kazen. Caitlyn approached him, willing her sabers to her hands, and activating their red blades. The Dark Jedi activated his own and started his attack by launching several rocks at her and then charging. The girl rolled to the left to avoid the rocks, and barely dodged Zerak's thrust to her chest! He continued to press his attack with thrusts and swings, circling the young Jedi, testing her defenses. The naked aggression of his assault left her unable to do much beyond dodge and parry the Dark Jedi's lightsaber!

She finally caught a moment to break away and performed a back-flip to give her a few meters of separation from Zerak. She began to rush back in to continue the fight, and gasped as she felt an invisible hand grip her throat and lift her from the ground. She struggled to keep from panicking and managed to use the Force to send a large rock flying towards Zerak's head! He had to release her to use his own command of the mystical energy to deflect the rock. Despite the pain she felt in her throat, she wasted no time charging for her own assault. Caitlyn began with a left-handed swing aimed at her enemy's neck, planning to follow through with the saber in her right hand. The Dark Jedi managed to duck her first swing and slashed out at her legs. She abandoned her attack, backing away, but still suffered a painful cut to her right leg!

As they began circling each other Caitlyn began thinking about her previous duels. Zerak seemed to attack with the same aggression used by Quiyllo, with the exception that every move held some agenda. Like Kazen his manner, was that of a predator, but he didn't seem to be trying to intimidate her as the younger Dark Jedi had. He didn't seem to by trying, but he was intimidating her. His manner of attack, and the difficulty she had reading him made her fear him. Caitlyn began to hear a scornful voice from deep inside her. "There is no need to fear him. You are stronger than him! All you have to do is reach out to him and attack him with the power of your true strength."

She sighed and whispered, "Whatever." An ironic smile appeared on her face as she blocked a downward strike with the saber in her right hand. There seemed to be a change in the young Jedi, which unnerved Zerak. She slashed low with her other lightsaber, and followed him as he attempted to back off to dodge the attack. He grimaced as Caitlyn's crimson blade cut into the inner thigh of his left leg. He was now forced to parry the onslaught of her twin red lightsabers as they came at him from various angles. While he could sense fear and anger built up in her, but he sensed none of it in her attacks. This sixteen year old girl was fighting him as a Jedi would and she was doing well. The indignity of it was infuriating! He called the Force to his left hand and sent her flying high into the air. He grit his teeth as he saw her twist in the air and land with a cat's grace. He grew tired of this game. It seemed inconceivable that he could have underestimated her this much. No Jedi should be able to give him this much trouble. He then noticed her stance and serene expression. She faced him exactly as Raven had faced him when they last dueled. He could tell then, that his former master had turned from the power of the Dark Side. Even then something inside told him that she was still a threat to his plans, and he was glad to have taken the precaution of having her poisoned. Now that he looked at Raven's daughter, Caitlyn, and saw the same thing, his anger boiled over and he thrust out his left hand assaulting her with Force Lightning! She quickly raised her left saber to block the attack, and firmly held her ground as the lightning was drawn to her weapon. "Is this all the power that being weak enough to surrender has given you?" Caitlyn's taunt made him even more blind to everything else around him but the Jedi he sought to destroy! He felt a sharp pain at the base of his neck as a stone struck him from behind. He glanced back to see Lillith with a grin on her face, and turned back to see Caitlyn charging him. He directed his fury into the attack as he slashed at her, but was surprised when she brought one saber down, cutting through his hilt and destroying his weapon. As she caught Zerak reaching out to attempt to strangle her again, she followed through with her attack, spinning around the Dark Jedi and beheading him!

As Zerak's corpse fell to the ground, Caitlyn sighed and returned her lightsabers to their hidden cradles. "Be at piece." She whispered before turning to face Lillith, who had released Jak from the hold she had placed on him through the Force. "And what now? Do you have any more manipulations waiting for me?" Her voice betrayed only a small portion of the pain she felt inside.

The auburn haired woman looked to the young Jedi apologetically. "I'm sorry, Caitlyn, but it had to be done. I admit; I wanted him dead for killing your mother, but I wouldn't have forced this battle on you if I hadn't thought it necessary. Had I not baited him as I had, he may have struck at you in a manner more advantageous to him."

Jak was glaring at her. "And I bet now that you've tricked Cait into doing your dirty work for you, you'll try to take us out and take his place!" He spat the accusation at her, his words full of venom.

Lillith sighed, "I guess I deserve that. If you find that you can't believe I only did what was necessary, then I should leave." The woman looked at Jak for a moment as his expression softened, thinking about her words.

She turned to leave, but stopped as Caitlyn called to her. "Wait, we can still help each other."

She turned back only slightly to look at the girl who reminded her so much of the woman she would have followed anywhere. "I've deceived you in the past, what makes you think I won't do it again?"

Caitlyn smiled and held out her hand. "You had your reasons, and now they're passed. Don't you think it's time to heal?"

Lillith turned to face her fully, with a warm smile on her face. "Master Van did well by you, young Jedi Knight. She took Caitlyn's hand and embraced the young woman. As they parted she looked over to Jak, who still looked at her skeptically. "And what about you?"

Jak ran a hand through his black hair as he thought about the whole mess. "I don't like being lied to and moved around like a dejarik piece, by someone I'm supposed to be working with, but I guess you did have your reasons." He finally admitted, and looked to Caitlyn. "So, what are you going to do once we've dumped these damned holocrons on the Alliance's Jedi?

She smiled, "I'd like to continue traveling with you, if you'll have me."

"Sure. After all, someone's got to keep you from getting in over your head." He chuckled lightly.


End file.
